Information Literacy Assignment Ideas
- Want to schedule an instruction session for your class, or want to talk about session possibilities? Contact your liaison librarian via the following link: https://library.richmond.edu/help/liaison-librarians.html
- Want to know more about how such lessons connect to the Web of Inquiry and library instruction standards? Check out the "Library Information Literacy Standards" page for additional information.
Information Literacy Assignment Ideas
- Great Ideas (That Don't Work)Created by Radford University Libraries, this resource discusses pitfalls and issues with certain research assignments, along with recommendations for improving them.
- Project CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments)Open-source collection of research assignments produced by college faculty and librarians. Many include contextual overview of the assignments, learning outcomes, and lesson plan materials.
- ACRL Information Literacy SandboxCollection of assignment ideas hosted by the Association of College and Research Libraries. Relevant ACRL information literacy standards are included with assignment descriptions.
- PALNI Framework for Information Literacy for Higher EducationProduced by the Private Academic Library Network of Indiana (PALNI), this resource is organized by the ACRL information literacy framework. Each sub-page includes both descriptions of these standards and includes links to relevant research assignments.
- PALNI Instruction Ideas and ActivitiesAnother resource from the Private Academic Library Network of Indiana that organizes assignment ideas based on research skills (e.g. keywords, evaluating sources, scholarly communication).
- Examples of Research Skill AssignmentsOriginally created by Penn Libraries for UPenn chemistry faculty, this resource lists a number of assignment ideas to help students learn source evaluation, locating resources, and get familiar with scholarly literature.
- Creating Effective Research AssignmentsIncludes general tips and tricks for effective research assignments, as well as ideas for alternates to research papers. This list stems from a workshop keynote presentation by Sara MacDonald with the UArts Center for Teaching & Learning.
- Instructional ActivitiesProduced by Butler University's Academic Partnerships team, this document provides basic info on a variety of research-related assignments you can have students complete.
- Alternatives to Research PapersList of research paper alternatives, produced by UConn Libraries.
Tips for Reinforcing Information Literacy Competencies
Attend lectures ▼
- Locate and evaluate a scholarly article on the lecture topic.
- Find biographical information on the speaker.
- Using a research database covering a wide variety of topics and resources (ex. Academic Search Complete) or a specialized database (ex. Literature Resource Center)
Participate in in-class discussions ▼
- Locate and cite an outside source as evidence for a response
- Locate further information on a topic that occurred during class discussions
- Bring materials (books, articles, websites) to share in class discussions
- Using OneSearch to find related books, movies, and government information
- Using sources suggested on relevant library research guides to find additional information
Write papers, give speeches and presentations, or create multi-media projects (podcasts, videos, etc.) ▼
- Have students write all but the paper research proposals and/or annotated bibliographies
- Submit a working thesis and bibliography early in the research process for review
- Have students utilize a variety of sources as evidence, including primary source material
- Compare popular and scholarly sources, or primary and secondary sources, on the same topic
- Using the library's guidelines for evaluating web resources and information
- Using the library's Citing Sources guide to find additional information on citations, citation styles, annotated bibliographies, and Zotero
- Incorporating resources from relevant library resource guides
Participate in blogs or Blackboard discussion boards ▼
- Provide references in their posts, or write a blog post focused on their research process
- Having students understand the research process better by being able to describe what resources were used and why they were selected
Read a textbook or other common course reading ▼
- If available via the UR Library, ask students to locate the article or reading themselves rather than provide them a copy in class
- Research a report on a footnote in a textbook or article
- Use a non-current article to update the topic with current information sources
- Use citation linking to trace an article, a foundational paper in a research field, or a scholar's career
- Using the library databasesto locate and access academic journal articles
- Using the specialized features of a database (ex. Web of Science's journal impact metrics)